Fiona Mangan riding high with first victory on European scene

*Fiona Mangan was absolutely delighted with her first win in Europe, coming last evening in Vrasene, Belgium (Photo: Paul Hinninck)*

Just weeks after staging an incredible comeback from breaking her collarbone in two places to take bronze at the National Road Race Championships in Kanturk, Fiona Mangan has now taken her first victory in Europe.

Mangan and compatriot Megan Armitage were among four riders from the IBCT Continental team in last evening's pro kermesse in Vrasene, Belgium. They set about attacking the main field from the early laps in the hope they could stretch out the bunch and force splits on the technical course.

With 13 laps of the 7.3km flat circuit to complete, the attacking from the IBCT team eventually paid off when Mangan and Armitage both got away in a breakaway group of ten riders. Once they were up the road, and had established a gap, the two Irish riders teamed up for the cash primes.

With Armitage leading out Mangan, they managed
to take four of the eight sprints; a strike rate that strengthened their
confidence for the finish as the race continued and it became clear the
breakaway would stay clear.

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When the front group came to the final sprint, Mangan again contested it and pulled clear of the breakaway a little with British rider Emily Meakin (Drops). Seeing they had a gap, they decided to press on and managed to put daylight between themselves and the other breakaway riders on the final lap.

They worked together until the finish and having already won the intermediate
sprints, Mangan beat Meakin to the line to take the victory.

Fenna Vanhoutte, the former Lotto-Soudal rider now competing for S-Bikes Doltcinia, took the sprint for 3^rd from the chasing group some 54 seconds after Mangan had taken victory. Irish rider Armitage was also part of that group competing for 3^rd place and finished the race in 9th.

Mangan’s win comes after a period
of illness and injury in the early part of the season, with the 26-year-old
crashing on June 6^th during GP Mazda
Schelkens (1.2) in Belgium and suffering a broken collarbone.

She had it pinned the following day and within days was back on the indoor trainer before soon venturing out onto the open road again. Just 19 days after that crash she rode to bronze in the road race at the National Road Championships in Kanturk, behind team mates Alice Sharpe and Mia Griffin.